Bhima Koregaon: NIA raids Noida residence of Hany Babu

New Delhi

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday conducted searches at the residential premises of an accused in Noida in Uttar Pradesh, the adjoining city of the national capital, in connection with the Bhima Koregaon Elgar Parishad case.

The raids were conducted at the residence of DU professor Hany Babu Musaliyarveettil Tharayil who was found to be a co-conspirator along with other accused persons propagating Maoist activities and ideology, and was placed under arrest on July 28 this year, the NIA said.

Further, the investigation also revealed that accused Hany Babu was in contact with  Paikhomba Meitei, Secretary Information and Publicity, Military Affairs, Kangkeipak Communist Party (MC), an organisation banned under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

An interview of Ganapathy, General Secretary of CPI (Maoist) was shared by Paikhomba Meitei with the accused Hany Babu. "Communications of Hany Babu with other Maoists of Manipur have also been retrieved," the NIA said.

The investigation also revealed that after the release of CPI (Maoist) leader Pallath Govindankutty, Hany Babu, along with co-accused Rona Wilson, took the initiative to help him financially by raising funds.

Hany Babu, along with other accused persons identified as Rona Wilson, Anand Teltumbde, P. Varavara Rao and Surendra Gadling formed a Committee for the release of former DU professor G.N. Saibaba who was sentenced to life imprisonment for his links with CPI (Maoist).

During the search of accused Hany Babu's house, NIA seized one account ledger, one receipt book of the Committee for the Defence and Release of Dr G.N. Saibaba, several documents as well as electronic items such as Hard Disk and USB pen drive.

The case pertains to organisation of Elgar Parishad at Pune, Maharashtra on December 12, 2017 which promoted enmity between various caste groups and led to violence resulting in loss of life and property and state-wide agitation in Maharashtra.

The investigation revealed that the Elgar Parishad along with Maoist leaders used the incident to spread the ideology of Maoism and encourage unlawful activities on the instructions of the leaders of CPI (Maoist), a banned organisation.